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Check, double check, quadruple check…. get someone else to quadruple check!!!!! I missed out on an amazing teaching opportunity because I had three typos on my application. They were silly little mistakes but it speaks volumes to potential employers! I didn’t take a lot of care in proof reading my material
because I did not feel like I was qualified…. turns out, I was exactly what they were looking for. I was told my interviewing skills are fantastic, if I could only get someone to proof read my application submissions then I would be “awesome”. Moral of the story- proofreading may be the difference between a dream job and minimum wage. —– better luck next time.

I am always looking for new apps and those teacher tested are a gold mine! Here is a link to the article which breaks down a ton of apps (descriptions included) into 14 different categories. If you can’t find what you are looking for then I would be really surprised!

This is a great tweet/pin that I came across while exploring today. It offers fantastic resources to expand your teacher blog! (I could use a little help) I am excited to apply these new found skills! Keep visiting and let me know what you think!

Site’s Content: This website is a collection of things students can make on their own! There are hundreds of do it yourself project ideas that help kids create stuff. (Duct tape hat, cardboard armor, rolled paper beads etc.) There is nothing better than getting kids to use the Internet safely, be part of a community and learn useful new tricks at the same time!

Site’s Value to professionals: The value of this site to professionals is having a great way to get students interested in creating things. This not only expands students’ creativity but also enhances their kinetics skills and their achievement skills. Plus, this site will give teachers another avenue to explore how to teach concepts in different ways, many of the projects can relate directly to subject knowledge.

I have finally been able to organize all the wonderful presentation tools I have discovered during this course. I do not know much about creating a professional development course but I do know many teachers are a little out dated in their presentation tools. So for the final project in the class I created a presentation to help teachers discover some of the fantastic websites that are available to use. You can view my project here.

FINAL PROJECT DESCRIPTION

My final project is an online presentation about enhancing presentations! Almost every classroom I have been in, the teachers have used PowerPoint. There is nothing wrong with PP however, Microsoft is expensive and is limited in its sharing abilities. Teachers would benefit greatly from this professional development presentation because it offers teachers different routes to presenting information. My project includes the most fantastic websites for presentations that I have ever encountered. Every website that is addressed during this presentation (aside from Google) I have discovered as a direct result of this course. After the PLN module and the online presentation module, I have been ecstatic about the sites I have discovered and I can only imagine my fellow teachers will be excited to discover new presentation tools as well. The websites included in this presentation are easy to use, free, and can be shared through multiple avenues.
The purpose of this project is to help teachers develop their presentation abilities. The tools presented here are able to use the tried and true presentation tool, PowerPoint but add a new twist. Presentations can now be video recorded, integrated in social media and completely dynamic.

This module revolved around presenting things virtually. Whether that meant and online presentation, digital story or virtual field trip. I have been creating such documents for years yet I love each one better than the last. My previous post was my most recent creation of a digital story. I decided I’d like a few of my other favorite creations for this weeks post. Hope you enjoy!

This link directs you to a PowerPoint presentation I created that utilizes the creative aspect of PP. You do not flow lineally through the presentation it depends on your answers! It is really quite interesting.

Then next link directs you to a virtual field trip that I created during my undergrad. It is neat to put the people of science and where they came from into perspective for students. The makings of biology happened all around the world and in completely different times.

The last link provides access to one of my best online presentations. ProjectQ is an awesome resource that really enhances the ways to present information. The ability to share this information over Facebook, twitter, blogger and Google is a complete must in this day and age!

In my grad class we were required to create a digital story. I have created about 10 during my coursework so I went a little different route with this one. Usually, the things I create for my coursework can relate directly back to the classroom, but this digital story was more a creative outlet. Hope you enjoy it!

I have completed my e Portfolio. I am excited about the end results and I hope it helps me to get a job!

When creating my portfolio there was a section concerning group work. This was also the topic of discussion for the module in my Ed class. I have never been a huge fan of group work (this is not a new discovery) and I do not require students to collaborate often. As a result, I had some difficulty finding evidence for group work!

Through the exploration done in class, I have discovered some easier ways to include group work in the classroom.

One of my biggest problems with group work is the tendency of one person to assume the role of leader who then gets stuck with all the work. One way to combat this problem is for the students to write down their contributions and grade each others work.

The second problem I have with group work is the loss of some great ideas. All too often I’ve witnessed students being too reserved to state their ideas and opinions. This is a difficult problem to combat but perhaps the group could anonymously write down their idea, mix them together and the group could vote on the best choice.

The last concern I have with group work is making the final product worthy of a group effort. In the past, I have been required to complete group projects that are too simple. I believe if you need partners the project itself should be in-depth enough to warrant multiple people working at all times.

All of that being said, I believe working with others is a very important skill that needs to be practiced and perfected during school. The following is a video that address some of these concerns.

So far in Ed 620. I have been exposed to so many new resources that I want to create all new documentation for my portfolio! I understand the immense amount of work that would be and the likely-hood of completing anything new is very slim, however I definitely want to create a post describing all the great things I have learned so far!

This site revolves around the wonders or questions that occur to students on a day to day basis. There is an archive of questions that can be looked at or searched through that would be fun for students to know, there is also a wonder of the day that you could start a class discussion with daily. For example, have you ever wondered why blood is red but your veins appear blue, or how smart are vending machines? The answered can be found on this website! It is a great resource to encourage inquisitive thought in students.

Website Name: Annenberg Learner – Teachers Resources and Professional development across the curriculum

Learner. Org contains pretty much everything you need for professional development. I was first attracted to this site because of its interactive learning modules across all the curricula. However, upon further exploration, this site holds the key to continued success in the classroom. There are workshops, videos, courses, forums, classroom resources and teacher blogs that offer priceless information.

This site provides very useful lesson plans, videos and interactive modules to use in the classroom. It also has blogs separated by subject matter that experienced teachers create to discuss teaching topics. This site is also valuable for teachers outside of their own classroom because it offers workshops and courses through Colorado State University that can count as graduate coursework and continuing Ed credits. I would highly recommend any professional that wishes to become an excellent teacher, visit this site regularly.

In an attempt to start building my PLN, I have been researching the Common Core. I came across a website that contains over 50 free online resources all coinciding with the Common Core. “These digital resources and tools for creating, collaborating, researching, and sharing can be found in the Common Core Curriculum Maps. “ (Quote taken directly from the website) There are four categorizes (1. Tools and hardware 2. Programs and software 3. Open text resources, 4. Free Online Resources) that contain multiple websites with wonderful resources.

As the implementation of the Common Core occur, it will be valuable to all professionals to have content that are linked to the CC. This website will make planning lessons, finding new resources and organizing your classroom around the CC easier. As an Instructional Technology Specialist, it is imperative that you are knowledgeable about any site that can help your fellow teachers utilize web tools; and this site is one of the best. I highly recommend adding this to your bookmarks.

Website Name: VYEW

Website URL : http://vyew.com/s/

This is a free collaboration site. You can easily give a presentation to hundreds of people, or post a document for your colleagues to review at their convenience. This site also offers object filtering so you can sort through contributions made by your students and see specific responses.

This site is priceless to professionals. You could host a class, offer remedial presentations, and have students work on group work or collaborate on documents. As a professional you can easily monitor their progress, freeze their work and remotely talk them though their work as well as have web-cam conferences. School no longer has to be limited to 7.5 hours a day, students can learn anytime of day!

I captured my home screen from my portfolio so far! I am really liking the Weebly website – it was a great choice and is making for a really nice portfolio. I have completed the basic “backbone” I will need. The next step in my portfolio process will be to organize and upload my documents. I am still a bit undecided about what I am going to include – I have so many things but I am not sure what best exemplifies my skills as a teacher. The next two weeks will be devoted to completing this portfolio.